Chapter 33: Snap Decision
“Were you followed?” Julie asked Hailey when they barged into the guardhouse.
“No. I mean, yes, I was, but they didn’t follow me very far.” Hailey said.
“Details.” Julie prompted, “Give us exact details. We need to know if they’re about to show up at the gate or if we have some time before they find us.”
“Chenoa!” Equoni rushed further into the room, down the stairs, and into the basement.
Shocked to see Hailey walk in, shirt torn at the collar, shoulder covered in dried blood, and limping slightly, the young guard at the front desk dropped the bow she was re-stringing, letting it bounce off her knees as it fell to the floor. Hesitant, not knowing what was happening or what to do, she apparently chose to let things play out while busying herself with searching through the cabinets in the room’s kitchenette.
“Sit here.” Julie spun the guard’s abandoned chair away from the desk, and Hailey obediently dropped down on it while Eli, Julie, and Vivi stood around her like a group of detectives questioning a suspect. “Now talk. Quickly. Are you one hundred percent sure you lost them?”
“Yes.” Hailey nodded vehemently. “One of their rollers chased me for a couple miles, but they hit a nasty pothole and broke an axle. They spun-out and lost a wheel. I wasn’t followed. I swear.”
“Show us where you lost them.” Vivi spread out the map she’d snagged from the passenger seat of Hailey’s car on their way to the guardhouse.
“Uhhh…it was around….here.” Hailey touched a bloodstained finger to the map, leaving a red smudge on the wrinkled paper, indicating where the pursuit had ended.
“So, you were still in the Wastes. Good.” Eli leaned over the map, studying it intensely. “Where did you encounter the scouts?”
“A couple miles south of there, at some ruins. They were camped out in an old building. A big one, just off the main road.”
“Hmmm.” Eli traced a finger along the road lines of the hand-drawn map, overlaying it with his memories of the area before the bombs. “This building they were at….was it a three-story concrete building, kind of shaped like a giant ‘L’, with lots of windows and a tall metal arch over the front entrance?”
“Yeah. That’s right. We saw three caravans with JSU painted on them parked out front, so we thought we should check it out.”
Eli squinted at the map, rubbing his unshaven jaw. There’s no way this is a coincidence, right? Thousands of buildings and houses between Lancaster and the forest, and they just happen to set up camp at a biorepository and medical research facility? Less than a week after attacking Lancaster?
While Eli was mumbling concerns under his breath, Equoni returned from the basement with a pretty Native American woman in her mid-forties, presumably Chenoa, and they silently joined them at the desk to hear Hailey’s report.
“What were they doing?” He asked Hailey, “What else did you see?”
“It looked like they were building something. We parked the roller where we thought we’d be hidden and tried to get closer on foot. It was too dark to see very well, and we were ambushed by another group of them before I could get a good look, but I think they were putting up fences.”
Definitely not a coincidence the JSU picked that building, then. They wouldn’t put up fences after dark, risk all the construction noise and movements attracting all the local ferals, if the lab wasn’t a critical location they wanted to secure immediately. The secondary patrol group alone is evidence they consider the lab a high-value location.
“What about Walela?” Chenoa asked, no, demanded. “What happened to my niece?”
“After they killed Scarlett, we tried to run away. It was five against two, we couldn’t fight our way out, so we just ran. They were too fast, though. Lela turned back to hold them off and told me to get home and tell you what we saw. They were dragging her off when I reached the roller.” Hailey’s fists were tightly clenched on her lap, her expression filled with shame and hatred.
The guard whose desk they were using returned with a box of first-aid supplies and knelt down to treat Hailey’s shoulder.
“How many JSU soldiers did you see?” Julie asked.
“I didn’t get an exact count, but there had to be at least fifteen, maybe twenty, plus the five that caught us.”
“Twenty-five?” Chenoa frowned, disheartened as she turned to the governor. “Uyehi1Cherokee word for “husband”, we would need to send every guard we have to save Walela from that many captors. And even then….”
“Governor.” Eli intervened before they could spiral into despair and indecision. “You just hired me to do this exact type of mission. All you have to do is give the order, and I’ll bring her home.”
If she’s still alive….
Equoni looked from his distraught sister to Eli. He suddenly looked much older, more tired, and unsure of himself. He was out of his depth, lost on how to handle the situation his position as Governor was forcing him to navigate.
“You need to decide quickly, Governor.” Eli said. “Right now. Send out all the guards, leave the settlement defenseless, and get many of them killed, let me do whatever I need to do, or do nothing and let the JSU torture Walela to death for information about Mist Haven. Those are the only options we really have. It’s your choice, but you need to make it now.”
The mention of torture caught Equoni’s attention, and he made a snap decision. “Do it.” The governor’s voice was raspy, “Take anything you need, whoever you need, just, please, bring my niece home.”
“Yes, sir.” Eli quickly folded up the map and slipped it into his back pocket. “Hailey. You feel like going on another mission?”
“Hell yes.” No hesitation in her reply.
“Good.” He strode over to the weapon racks on the other side of the room. “After you’re patched up, grab as many jars of ethanol as you can carry, some cotton shirts, and be ready to leave in less than ten minutes.”
“Got it.” She nodded.
“Vivi? Mom?” Eli found his pistol on one of the racks. “Are you coming with us?”
“You couldn’t stop me from going.” Vivi snatched her trusty hatchet from the same rack.
“I think I should stay here.” Julie said. “Even if Hailey wasn’t followed, they could still pick up her trail and find the settlement while you’re gone, and one of us should be here if they show up.”
Eli froze in place, his hand clutching his knife, which he almost dropped. Julie wanted to stay behind while her children ran head-first into an enemy camp?
“Are…are you sure?” Eli was in disbelief.
She smiled softly. “Yes, sweetheart, I’m sure. But if you’re not back in two days, I’ll come find you, no matter where you are, and kill anyone who gets in my way.” Her smile seemed more wicked toward the end of her statement.
Yeah, that sounds more like the Julie I know. He laughed to himself.
“Alright.” He conceded.
Eli picked up one of the strange arrows with a green orb on the tip and held it up to Chenoa.
“What’s this?” He touched the vibrant green glass ball.
“Be careful with that.” Chenoa warned. “It’s filled with spitter acid. It’ll melt the skin off your hand if you accidently break it.”
“Oh shit.” Eli breathed, holding the arrow with newfound respect. “I’m definitely taking some of these.”
He placed a quiver of toxic arrows and a recurve bow on the desk, along with his knives, pistol, rifle, and hopefully enough ammo for the mission. The next few minutes flew by as everyone prepared for the rescue operation. Julie took it upon herself to find a rucksack and gather some provisions and supplies; clean water, dried meets, two radios, binoculars, and any other essentials she could find in the guardhouse. Vivi filled a second bag with her weapons and took them to their vehicle. Eli and Hailey managed to scrounge up seven mason jars of reserve ethanol from a supply closet, along with three spare guard uniform shirts, one of which Hailey changed into before carrying it all out to the roller while Eli collected his own pile of weapons.
Equoni and Chenoa observed the whole process while having a hushed discussion at the back of the room. Occasional outbursts of loud Spanish arguments from downstairs meant Gloria was probably being confronted with some difficult revelations. Rather than calming down, or becoming depressed, it seemed like talking to Maria only made the hot-tempered Latina woman even angrier. Eli just hoped her anger didn’t get misdirected at Julie again while he was gone, for her own sake.
Eli was walking to the door, ready to leave, when Equoni approached him.
“Thank you for doing this, son.” He said in his subtle southern accent thick with sincerity. “It’s a larger task than I should have any right to demand of you.”
“Thank me when I get back.” Eli gave him a reassuring nod, leaving the guardhouse with quick strides.
A shadow crept over the main street as a group of billowing white clouds slowly passed over the small town. The sky was a clear, crystal blue, and a flock of geese flew west over the shimmering lake. It was a beautiful day in Mist Haven. An ironically beautiful day to be caught-up in such an ugly situation.
Vivi and Hailey already waiting for him in their vehicle. His sister in the driver’s seat, of course. Eli went around to the passenger side and tossed his gear in the backseat with Hailey, being extra careful with the sinister arrows, and had just pushed the door closed when Julie hugged him from behind.
“Be safe out there.” Her voice was tight. “Protect you sister, and come home to me.”
“Always.” He turned around placed a tender kiss to her pink lips, his hand caressing her cheek. “I love you.”
“I love you, too.” She touched her lips to his once more.
When they parted, Julie put on a serious expression and jogged back into the guardhouse, probably about get a start on overhauling the settlement’s defensive measures while he was gone. He knew she’d much rather go with him, and he kind of wanted her to, but he also knew she was right to remain in Mist Haven.
Opening the passenger door, Eli paused before entering the vehicle. “Ah shit. Hey, Vivi, how’s the battery looking?”
“Fully charged, courtesy of Maggie. She charged it up after the inspection yesterday.”
Eli blinked in surprise at Maggie’s initiative. “Really?” He climbed in and closed the door with a dull thump. “Remind me to thank her when we get back.”
Vivi pressed a button on the console, and the electric motor quietly whirred to life. “Hey, what’s the deal with…..” She tilted her head to the backseat, pulling away from the curb and cruising toward the gate.
“We need her for the rescue side of the mission. We’ll eliminate the hostiles while she secures the captive.” He said, half speaking to Hailey.
“Uhhh…” Hailey seemed skeptical, “I know I agreed to this already, but….shouldn’t we try to sneak her out of there instead of trying to fight them all? I mean, it’s just the three of us. I thought we’d just, I don’t know, kill a couple of them on the way in, grab Lela, and run like hell.”
They were passing by the crop fields as Eli turned around to face the petite brunette guard. “This operation has five objectives. Rescue Lela, capture one of their soldiers for interrogation, kill all remaining hostiles on site to limit enemy intelligence, and….you don’t need to worry about the last two. In fact, you only need to focus on the first objective; getting your friend out alive.”
Someone must have radioed ahead to Andrea, because the gate was already open and she was waving them through.
“Secret objectives?” Vivi sped across the open area, toward the forest’s tree line. “Eli…” She gave him a no-nonsense glare. “What do you know that we don’t?”
Eli sighed. “I don’t know anything for sure, but I have some suspicions. And if my suspicions are right, then I know even less than I thought I did.”
“Mhm.” Vivi rolled her eyes. “Thanks for the non-answer.”
“Hey.” Eli took her right hand off the steering wheel held it in his own, their fingers intertwined. “It’s not like I enjoy keeping things from you. It’s just….there’s a whole conversation about this that I’m not ready to have right now.”
Vivi pressed her lips together to hide her smile, stubbornly trying not to show him the effect his touch had on her. “Fine. But if you won’t tell me what your secret objectives are, then I want something else from you.”
“Uhh, alright… What do you want?” Eli narrowed his eyes.
“Mom told me about the shower…” She removed her hand from his, placing it on his thigh, glancing at him with a predatory grin. “I want my turn. As soon as we get back.”
